Proven Results - Experience - Scientific Approach
Personalised Care

Melbourne IVF's success rates are equal to the best in Australia

Patients who choose Melbourne IVF do so based on:

Experience & Reputation:
Our results are based on 30 years of experience in IVF, with some of our most senior doctors playing a role in the team at the Women’s Hospital that helped create Australia's first, and the world's third IVF baby.

Proven results:
As one of the largest IVF providers in Victoria, and as part of the largest IVF group in Australia, Melbourne IVF performs almost half of the fertility treatments undertaken in Victoria each year, and audited figures show, we are responsible for almost half of all the IVF babies born each year in the state. 
 

World’s best practice: 
We provide the full range of fertility treatment options available to a standard considered “world’s best practice”, including egg, sperm and embryo freezing, fertility preservation, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), and a comprehensive donor program. 
 

Scientific Approach:  
As published in scientific journals, Melbourne IVF’s freeze / thaw embryo program, based on day 2 ‘cleavage” embryos, can provide multiple pregnancy attempts from the one stimulated IVF cycle.  An alternative approach of growing embryos to Day 5 (blastocyst stage) was first introduced successfully at Melbourne IVF in 1996, and has since been available where recommended as the most appropriate treatment by your fertility specialist. 
 

Personalised Care:   
The patient’s own fertility specialist performs all of their procedures, and each doctor works with a dedicated small team of nurses.
 

Research & Development: 
Melbourne IVF has a dedicated research team that is continually reviewing and researching new treatments and protocols to improve the outcomes for patients.

Melbourne IVF Success Rates = Live Birth

When we talk to patients about their chance of success through IVF treatment, we talk in terms of their likelihood of having a “birth”, because we know that that is what all patients undertaking treatment are ultimately hoping for.  Sometimes success rates are reported as ‘pregnancy rates’; Melbourne IVF does not report success rates using pregnancy rates as sadly not all early pregnancies proceed to term.
 

Our Success Rate Data
Our cumulative data presented below, demonstrates our proven results.  These results show what a woman’s chance is of having a birth through our program from one stimulated IVF cycle, using both fresh and frozen embryos.  As demonstrated below, the chance of having a birth increases with repeated stimulated treatments.  On average, national data across all IVF units indicates that most patients will have a birth after three stimulated treatment cycles.
 

Graphical representation:  Birth Rates for women who undertook stimulated IVF treatment with Melbourne IVF between 2007 and 2009, using Day 2 cleavage embryos for transfer and who had at least one additional embryo frozen for future attempts.

Melbourne IVF holds regular information evenings in and around Melbourne, where our fertility specialists and scientists explain in detail Melbourne IVF’s scientific approach.  Review upcoming dates here and register online.

Will treatment be successful for me?

At your initial consultation your fertility specialist will give you an indication of your likelihood of conceiving which will vary between 5-50% per treatment cycle depending on the specific treatment recommended.  Factors that may influence the chance of success include:
 

• both partner’s age;
• how long you have been trying to conceive;
• whether either partner has been a parent previously;
• prior treatment for infertility;
• how well the eggs and sperm are likely to fertilise and develop into good quality embryos. 

Melbourne IVF's Scientific Approach

Melbourne IVF’s program utilises the full spectrum of scientific practices to tailor treatment to each individual patient’s needs and requests.  There is a variety of approaches to growing embryos in the laboratory; two of the main methods refer to growing embryos to day 2 “cleavage” stage, or day 5 “blastocyst” stage. 

While our program is designed predominately on day 2 “cleavage” embryo transfers, we have been performing day 5 “blastocyst”(link to text below) embryo transfers since 1996 to suit the needs of some patients.  Each program has its place, advantages and disadvantages.

The day 2 “cleavage” embryos method grows embryos in culture in the laboratory for 2 days after egg collection and is based on validated observations (known as timing of syngamy) at 23-24 hours (six hours after the fertilization check), which provides the ability to identify the best potential embryos.

Through our day 2 ‘cleavage” embryo program, we aim to minimise the number of stimulated IVF cycles needed to achieve a pregnancy.  This allows us to help patients create their entire families – with multiple siblings - from the one stimulated IVF cycle.

Because Melbourne IVF uses embryos on day 2, most women (almost 60%) will also have embryos frozen.  In women <36 years of age, three quarters will have embryos frozen.  Using methodology developed at Melbourne IVF, 95% of embryos will survive the freeze / thaw process.
 

Both methods achieve similar success rates in similar patient populations.

Blastocyst Technology – The Facts
 

The Day 5 Blastocyst Approach
“Blastocyst” is a method of growing embryos in culture in the laboratory for 5 days after egg collection, to observe their development before being transferred back into the woman.  This method is used to determine which embryos are the most likely to implant and go on to form a pregnancy.  Growing embryos to blastocyst does not improve the quality of the embryos, but simply identifies which embryos are stronger than others.  
 

Limitations of Blastocyst Embryos
One of the main limitations of the “blastocyst” embryo methodology is that some embryos don’t grow sufficiently well in the laboratory until day five.  This means that for some patients (eg patients aged 37 or over) there is a higher possibility that there will be a reduced number of good quality embryos suitable for transfer or freezing, and in some instances there may be no embryos remaining for use. 

The day 2 “cleavage” embryo approach therefore is based on the theory that some of the embryos that don’t make it to day 5 to be transferred, would have produced a healthy baby if they had been transferred on day 2.
 

Blastocyst Outcomes
In several studies internationally it has been noted that blastocyst is most successful when used for patients with a good prognosis, based on factors such as age (the younger the better), the number and the quality of embryos created.  
 

When blastocyst and day 2 embryos are compared including patients of both good and not so good prognosis, blastocysts has not been shown to increase live birth rates compared with those achieved with transfer of cleavage stage embryos.
 

Your fertility specialist will discuss with you if blastocyst culture is appropriate for you.
 

Click here to learn more about success rates terminology.